1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method of generating an ontological model. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a mechanism for representing ontologies in a manner that facilitates efficient modification, adaptation, or transformation of a business process.
2. Description of Related Art
Enterprise systems are increasingly integrating various business systems and processes to facilitate data collaboration among various software systems. Business processes may be implemented in a proprietary software language or may be implemented using an industry standard language, such as the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). Business processes define workflows that generally include a variety of tasks. Typically, managing the collaborative sharing of information in a business enterprise system is difficult.
Networks such as the Internet provide the ability for geographically diverse systems to communicate with very low latency with other systems or individuals. Many enterprise systems once limited to enterprise intranets are now being deployed on the Internet to exploit available Web services. However, in doing so, effective implementation of a business process requires integration of even more diverse data and systems. As such, effective implementation of business processes is becoming even more complex.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a mechanism that facilitates modification or adaptation of a business process. It would be further advantageous to provide a mechanism for representing ontologies in a manner that facilitates efficient modification, adaptation, or transformation of a business process.